Living A Nightmare
by SilentSunrise
Summary: Maka has been having a difficult time finding sleep, but when it finally comes nightmares are never far behind. She thinks she can escape them once she wakes up, however her worst nightmares have a nasty habit of coming true. Maka will have find herself and figure out how to complete the mission, luckily she won't have to do it alone. Disclaimer: I don't own Soul Eater.
1. Chapter 1

Maka woke with a start. Even though a hot sweat covered her face, she was shivering. She had just woken up from another bad dream. Staring at the clock she realized it was barely past midnight. Restlessly, Maka got out of bed and paced around her room. After walking in circles for several minutes, she decided to read; it was the only thing that seemed to calm her down. Out of her vast collection of books, which has gotten larger over time, she decided to read her favorite romantic action novel. Quickly, Maka was lost in her book, like she always was when she read a good book, no matter how many times she read it. The next thing she knew, it was two in the morning. With a yawn, she stretched out and instantly fell back to sleep. Dark memories filled her dreams once again, turning them into a nightmare. Again she woke up with a start as the clock struck three.

_I'm having more nightmares now_, Maka thought to herself as she sat on the edge of her bed. She glanced around her room; everything was the same as how she left it. Her desk was cluttered, with papers thrown across it after she had finished studying for a test. She liked her supplies and notes to be organized, so the mess wasn't helping her mood. Although Kidd would probably die if he saw her room, unsymmetrical, with her books in uneven stacks and papers scattered about the room. _Well_, she thought, _at least it's not as bad as Soul's room_. She smiled silently to herself. Then she realized she had forgotten about Soul, the co-owner of their apartment, until now.

Quietly, she stood up, grabbing her pillow and exited her room. After noticing Blair, the witch, in her cat form curled up in the middle of the hallway, Maka tip-toed past her, hoping not to wake her. _That's all I need_, thought Maka, _Blair waking up and bothering me_. Her silk dress swayed as she maneuvered around, the ball of fur. When she successfully passed the sleeping feline, Maka crept to Soul's room and opened the door as slowly and quietly as possible. She stood in his doorway, gripping her pillow against her chest. Soul lay sprawled across his bed in front of her. He hadn't bothered changing out of his clothes from the day before, however he did manage to take off his favorite jacket and sweatband and throw them on the floor. His face looked younger than usual, like he didn't spend every day killing Kishin eggs. _He's cute when he's sleeping_; Maka thought happily, a smile spread across her face.

"Maka," Soul's groggy voice spoke, "Is that you?"

"Yes," Maka said, "sorry, I didn't mean to wake you."

"Its fine," he yawned.

"Hey Soul?" Maka whispered.

"Yeah? What is it?" Soul asked rubbing his eyes.

"Umm…," Maka said a little embarrassed, "Can I sleep with you tonight? I had a bad dream."

Soul looked up at Maka, whose head was facing down at the floor. "Of course," he said surprised. His fearless meister wanted to sleep with him because she was _scared?_

"Thanks," Maka said smiling. She walked over to the bed and slipped in next to Soul. "Hey, scoot over a little."

"There's not enough room with your fat ankles," Soul said sarcastically.

"Maka… CHOP!"

"Ow! I'm scooting, I'm scooting," Soul moved over, feeling the full pain coming from his new-formed headache, thanks to Maka.

_Why does_ _she have to take everything so seriously?_ Soul wondered, rolling his eyes.

Maka lay flat on her back, staring at the ceiling, while Soul lay on his side facing his window. They were silent for several minutes until Soul asked, "Maka, what was your dream about?"

"It was bad," she said cautiously, "let's just leave it at that."

Soul turned over so he faced her and said, "Maka, its okay, just tell me."

Tears burned her eyes and threatened to run down her cheeks as the memories flooded her mind, reminding her of all her nightmares for the past week. All of them had scared her, they seemed so real. All of them were about Soul and how, in the past, he always saved her and ended up getting hurt in the process. However, the events in her dreams had been fatal, leaving her alone in an empty void, crying. The most reoccurring dream was when Maka and Soul, as her scythe, fought against Crona and Ragnarok, as his sword, at the church. Soul changed back into his human form, trying to protect her and had been cut across his chest and stomach in the process. The ugly scar that was left on his body was a painful reminder of that day. Suddenly, Maka was overcome with nausea.

"I don't feel good," she confessed, "I just want to go to sleep."

"Fine," Soul gave in, reluctantly.

Soul was awoken at six thirty by his alarm clock. He punched the clock and sent it flying off the stand, breaking the tenth one this month. Yawning, he turned to look over at Maka to see if she had woken up yet. He was surprised to find her holding his right arm and resting her head on his shoulder.

"Soul…," Maka whispered, as a smile formed on her face.

_I wonder what she's dreaming of_, Soul thought to himself, _she looks cute when she's sleeping_. He rested his head on top of hers'.

A few minutes later, Soul had fallen back asleep. Maka's eyes fluttered open, and she noticed she was holding on to Soul and his head was resting on hers. He looked like he was smiling at her. She didn't want him to see her clinging to his arm… I _never noticed that he had such large biceps_, she thought happily to herself. _Wait_, she snapped out of it_, stop thinking about that. What was I doing again? Oh yes, I remember. I was leaving_. She carefully and quietly slipped away. Quickly, she tiptoed out of Soul's room and hopped into the shower. _Wow_, she thought_, I didn't have a nightmare while I was with Soul_.

Soul was awoken again, but this time by the intoxicating smell of breakfast. He scrambled out of bed and hurried to the kitchen to find Maka cooking pancakes and eggs. She was dressed in her usual red plaid skirt, light yellow sweater vest, and green striped tie, like she always did when they went to the DWMA (Death's Weapon and Meister Academy). _Crap_, he thought, _I forgot about school_. Hurriedly, he took a shower and dressed into his black and yellow jacket, pants, and his favorite sweatband.

"Breakfast is ready," Maka called to Soul.

Since they got up later than usual, they had to scarf down their breakfast. They ended up taking Soul's motorcycle, which they usually only used for long distance assignments.

Maka wrapped her arms around Soul's stomach, and they were off. As they made their way through the streets, she laid her head down on his back, unconsciously. A warm feeling went up Soul's spine and turned his cheeks bright pink.

The school day seemed to fly by, and before Maka realized it she was back in her apartment. After dinner and homework, Maka lay restlessly in her room, staring at the ceiling. She was afraid nightmares would take over her dreams and send her awake every hour. She thought about asking to sleep with Soul again, but figured he would ask more questions about her terrible dreams. She didn't want him to worry about her and didn't feel much like talking about it either. In the end her drowsiness got the better of her and she finally fell asleep.

Unsurprisingly, an incubus aroused her from her sleep. The dream that haunted her was like past ones she had except this one she hadn't had before. In this nightmare Maka and Soul were in the middle of an ocean. Soul was drowning as water continually washed over him and the currents pulled him under the surface. Maka tried to swim to him, but the more she tried the further she seemed to get. She ended up losing sight of him, as if he had just vanished.

Maka woke up tangled in her blankets. She struggled to free herself, but was eventually victorious. Unable, to ease her mind and go back to sleep she stayed awake for another hour until her alarm clock went off. As Maka was getting ready for school she noticed dark circles were forming under her eyes. _Hopefully_, she thought, _nobody will notice_.

()()()

At school Soul noticed that Maka was acting strange. She was a bit jumpy and seemed to be avoiding him whenever she could.

"Hey Maka," Soul said.

"What's up?" she asked looking away from Soul.

"Want to take this supplementary lesson?" he asked.

"Lesson?" Maka inquired dreadfully.

"Yeah, I thought we could take this one," Soul replied, handing a paper to Maka, "where we go to this island-"

Maka's thoughts cut him off. _An island! Water surrounds islands, which means something could go wrong and we could drown!_

"Are you okay?" Soul asked as he touched her shoulder.

"Ah!" she jumped, so surprised by his touch she started shaking, "Yeah, I'm fine, let's go on that mission."

"Are you sure?" he asked suddenly worried about his partner.

"Yes," she insisted.

She turned slowly and headed to their first class. Their friends, Liz, Patti, Kidd, and Black*Star followed behind her. Soul saw Maka smile at Liz and Patti as they talked together, but he noticed that her smile didn't reach her eyes.

"She's been acting weird recently, hasn't she?" a sweet voice asked beside him.

Soul turned his head to see Tsubaki looking at him with a small smile. "Yeah," Soul answered quietly, turning his head back toward Maka.

"Make sure you take good care of her," Tsubaki whispered as she walked over to their group of friends.

"Don't worry, I will," Soul sighed when she was gone.

**A/N: First I would to thank Believe4Ever (who, by the way, has a lot of awesome stories) for being my editor. Thanks to everyone for reading the first chapter to my first story. I have been working on this, on and off, for about a year and finally decided to post it here. Please feel free to leave advice, and suggestions. They are all appreciated. I will probably update once a week, although I may add more now that I'm on break. Have a lovely Christmas!**


	2. Chapter 2

The next day they were off on their supplementary lesson. They traveled by plane from Nevada to California, and then walked to the port near the airport. Soul wanted to take a bout to the island, but Maka was completely against.

"It would be faster if we flew there," she stated, crossing her arms over her chest.

"Yeah, but that means I'm the one who has to fly us there," Soul retorted.

"And your point is?"

Soul growled deep in his throat, but decided that although he couldn't see it, Maka definitely had a hard cover book at her disposal. So arguing was pointless. After turning into his Death Scythe form his blade shrunk and giant, silver wings sprang from the end of the handle. Together they went soaring into the sky, through the clouds, and on their way to the island for their mission.

It was around two o'clock by the position the sun was in the sky; everything around them was serene. They had been flying for about half an hour when the sun disappeared abruptly from the sky, like something had blocked it from the world below. The wind began to build into powerful gusts and the ocean started to rage and create massive tidal waves. Without the light from the sun it was impossible to see anything. Maka lifted her hand in front of her face to block it from the wind, but saw nothing, not even an outline of her digits.

"What's going on?" Maka asked, but her question was swallowed by the fury of the wind. All the bad feelings she originally had about this mission fell to the bottom of her gut.

Out of nowhere a strike of lightning came down, right in front of Maka and Soul. Momentarily, she was blinded by the light. Uncontrollably, they swerved out the way into the frigid sea water.

_No, no, no, this can't happen!_ Maka thought as she tumbled under the surface of the water.

Maka became lost in her thoughts and fears, until she noticed there was a tight grip on her wrist. She looked over to see Soul holding on and not daring to let go. When they broke to the surface they gasped for air. Soul looked scared, but was trying to put on a brave face for her.

Maka never cared much for the ocean. She loved going to the beach, but the idea of getting lost at sea with no help for several miles, always frightened her. She would never go too far into the ocean, in fear that she might be taken under by a current. The animals that inhabit the water didn't really scare her at all; she already had a shark for a partner.

Said-shark's face suddenly went slack, his eyes terrified. She turned around just in time to see an immense tidal wave crash right on top of them, causing Soul to lose his grip on Maka. Again she somersaulted below the top of the water. When she was able to breathe again, she searched for Soul in the darkness. Fortunately, she was able to spot Soul's white hair and began to swim toward him. The more she swam the further away he seemed to get.

_It's just like my nightmare, _Maka thought in horror.

Her legs and arms began to ache, but she wouldn't stop until she was with Soul once again. Water washed over her and just like in her dream, he vanished. Maka was frightened, not only because Soul had disappeared but also because her nightmare had turned into reality. Overcome with worry about Soul, Maka didn't notice the titanic wave coming from behind her. With full force the wave crashed on Maka, knocking her unconscious. Everything went black as the currents pulled Maka below the surface.

**A/N: Thanks to everyone who commented and followed my story. It makes me happy to see people enjoy my writing. Sorry it took my longer than I said it would. Because this chapter is so short and it took long to post, I'm going to add chapter three soon. (Probably tomorrow) I hope you enjoy it anyway. **


	3. Chapter 3

Maka woke from a scary nightmare, or at least she hoped it was. The dream seemed so vivid, so real, but was already starting to disappear from her memory. Sunlight streamed through the leaves of the palm trees and shone into her emerald green eyes. _What happened? _Maka thought as she tried to remember the events of the previous night, however nothing came to mind, in fact she couldn't remember anything. She sat up. The last memory she had was when she was around five years old and her mom and dad were tucking her into bed after a bad dream. It was a nice memory but Maka wished she had more. _This is just great, _thought Maka, _I have amnesia. Where am I?_

A cool breeze past through sending a chill up Maka's spine. Her clothes were still soaked and stuck to her body. She looked out to the ocean; the sun sparkled against the surface. She dug her fingers under the warm sand when suddenly, a quick vision of lightning flashed through her mind. _Just like my nightmare… _Maka looked down and noticed what she was wearing: a black trench coat over a beige sweater vest and a red plaid miniskirt. Her hand went to her hair: two pig tails. _What am I, five? _She thought angrily. She took out the hair ties, so her hair fell loosely over her shoulders. The meister laid her trench coat on a large rock, along with her sweater vest and tie. Maybe they would dry faster like this, besides Maka didn't really like them, but she did love her combat boots.

Another chill ran up Maka's spine. She felt like she was being watched. A large puff of air hit Maka's back and encased her in the coppery smell of blood. The hair on the back of her neck stood up as goose bumps covered her body. _Don't turn around, Maka. Don't turn around,_ she thought nervously to herself. Her curiosity got the better of so Maka turned around slowly and faced the foliage. There was nothing there, except exotic trees and flower. The wonderful smell and beautiful color of the flowers overwhelmed her senses. Just as she let out a sigh of relief, she heard something growl from behind the trees. As if on cue, when Maka took a step backward the monster that had growled leaped out of the greenery. She jumped back in fright; the frigid water was washed over her boots. The hideous creature staring at her was like a cross between a jaguar and a chameleon, which seemed rather silly to Maka, but its daggers for teeth made her think now was probably the best time to laugh. The creature's eyes seemed unfocused but still felt like they were staring at her. It was large like a jaguar but was covered in reflective scales. The monster's claws dug into the sand as its body began to blend more and more with its surrounding until it was completely transparent.

Maka decided it would be best not see any more of this animal's tricks and began running along the coast. She could tell the creature was following her because each steep it took shook the ground like an earthquake. Unfortunately, she couldn't tell how far away it was from reaching her. The meister knew she would be an easy target out in the open, so she made a sharp turn toward the forest. She could feel air push against her side as the combined animal tried to swat its clawed paw at her. When 'safely' in the forest, Maka tried to focus what was in front of her. Leaves, rocks, and branches lay scattered on the forest floor, making it harder to run without tripping. The sound of the monster's step got louder as Maka's legs tired out. Suddenly she heard something cutting through the air at quickening speeds, right at the last moment she ducked right as a slimy rope flew over her head and stuck to a tree. Then Maka realized that the rope was actually the creature's tongue. A sizzling hole began to form in the tree as the tongue was sucked back into the mouth of the nearing monster. _This is just lovely_, Maka thought sarcastically, _it can turn invisible and has an acidic tongue. What's next?_

Maka continued running even though her legs began to ache. A toppled tree came into view in front of her and charged for it, but right before she reached it, a searing pain shot through her right leg. The monster's tongue had shot out and wrapped around her right leg. Her momentum was used against her and fell hard to the ground. The pain was so unbearable that she almost lost consciousness, but knew she knew she couldn't die like this. She noticed that the hybrid had stopped and it started reeling her back in. She dug her fingers into the dirt to slow its process so she could think. Forcing the pain aside, Maka looked around for anything that could be useful. She saw a sharpened stone that could have been used for a spear a one point. Unfortunately, it was just out of reach so Maka steeled herself and lunged for it. Although her planned worked and she recovered the stone, it came with a price. Now instead of the creature's tongue being bound around her shin and calf, it was wrapped around her ankle. The fabric of her boots began to sizzle and melt away. Maka became furious; this had been the only part of her outfit that she actually liked and now this monster was ruining it. She lifted the carved stone and brought down with all her might. The stone pierced the beast's tongue and recoiled in agony. The monster's original colors returned and before it could recover, she got to her feet, which was nearly impossible. She shuffled toward the log she had been rushing to earlier. She had barely made it over the trunk when something pulled her to the ground. She fell on her butt so fast and hard that she thought she might get whiplash. The grip on her wrist did not burn like the chameleon/jaguar's had. Before she could she what was behind her, she was being pulled back by her wrist until she was resting against the toppled trunk. A hand placed itself over her mouth, a sign that she should probably be quiet. She was frozen in fear when she heard the creature gathering its wits and barreling in her direction. The hybrid leaped over the fallen trunk Maka was leaning on and landed several yards in front of her. It sniffed the air, but looked like it was having a hard time pin pointing her scent. It apparently decided to continue straight and ran off in the direction it thought Maka had gone. Only after the monster's pounding steps were a distant boom, was her mouth and wrist released.

"Sorry about that." A gentle, but strong voice said behind her.

When Maka turned, a boy about the same as her, maybe a year older sat smiling at her. He had a dark tan from many days out in the sun; his dirty blond hair was messy, like he had just woken up. His topless body showed his chiseled biceps and abs. But his most noticing feature was his eyes; they were a sparkling deep blue. Suddenly, another image flashed in her mind, this time she was under water and someone was holding her dainty hands in a tight grip, but before she could see who it was the image began to blur. "Are you okay?" he continued.

His voice cleared her from her haze. "I'm fine," she responded sheepishly, as she stood up. A white, hot flash of pain shot through her injured right leg. She stumbled forward trying to keep her balance, but the pain was too much and fell forward. Before she made contact with the ground, the boy caught her. He grabbed under her shoulder blades and thighs and lifted her up. He began to walk away with Maka in his arms. As he was walking she lifted her right leg to examine it. She wanted to know how bad it was even if the movement was painful. Maka instantly regretted it when she saw that her leg had turned purple and blisters covered it. Although she had grown nauseous, she managed to ask, "Where are you taking me?" Suddenly, drowsiness swept over her and she was barely able to keep her eyes open.

"To my village," he answered, a smile growing on his face. That was the last thing Maka remembered before everything went black.


	4. Chapter 4

Maka shot straight up into sitting, sending a sharp pain through her head. She groaned in pain and placed her hand against her sweaty forehead. The meister just awoke from a nightmare, but couldn't remember what it was about. It was almost like she didn't want to remember. She then realized she was in a large tent, sitting on the hard ground, only covered by a colorful blanket. She wiggled her right leg around; the pain that was there before had subsided and was almost unnoticeable. The sounds of heavy rain outside sounded like a familiar haunting song that made Maka feel secure. Once again drowsiness grabbed her and pulled her under.

When Maka awoke again, the boy that helped her earlier sat smiling brightly in front of her, just like the first time she saw him. His sapphire eyes sparkled when she returned the smile.

"How are you feeling?" he asked.

"Better than before," she replied, surprised about how dry her throat was.

"That's good," he responded. "Sorry I never caught your name."

"It's Maka, Maka Albarn." At least she hadn't forgotten her name.

"Nice to meet you, I'm Chex Mazon."

"So where are we?"

"I'll show you," he said enthusiastically.

He stood, brushing the dirt off his beige khaki pants. He then offered his hand to help Maka to her feet. Graciously, she took hold of it and sprung up. A pain spread through her leg once more, but she managed to stay planted to the ground.

_It's not completely healed yet, _Maka reminded herself.

Chex's hand was strong, but cold. He guided her out of the tent and into the rain, once pouring had turned into a light sprinkle that felt sticky from the humidity.

The village was small; about fifteen to twenty tents identical to the one Maka was in arranged in a large circle surrounding a drenched bonfire. One tent was larger than the others and festively decorated in deep oranges, like the sky at sunset. Her combat boots and his bare feet squished against the damp ground as they walked around the tents. Her right boot was almost completely ruined from the acid. She wanted to go and hunt the mutant down for destroying the one part of her outfit she liked, but decided that the odds of her defeating it on her own did not have a high success ratio.

"Hey Chex, what was that thing that attacked me earlier?"

"Oh, we call it Jagelon," he answered.

"Are all the animals here combinations of animals?"

"Yeah, there aren't that many carnivores though, and Jagelons don't usually go around the ocean so I was surprised to see one chasing you."

Silence filled the air, as Maka was deep in thought.

"It's weird," Chex said. She had almost forgotten Chex was with her, but his voice calmed her down "We rarely have any visitors on this island, but you're the second person we found in two days."

That surprised Maka; she never even thought of the possibility that she might have came here with someone. "Really?" she said, hope rising in her voice. "Where is he? Or, she? Can I see them?"

"Of course," he answered, "but first it would be best to go see our chief."

They made their way over to the large, orange tent. At the entrance Chex stopped, looking intently at the tent in front of him. In the diffused light, he looked older than he probably was but still looked ruggedly handsome.

"Are you okay?" Maka asked. She was pretty good at sensing people's emotions, or at least she thought she was.

He seemed to come out of his trance, but still didn't look at her. "Yeah, I'm fine. I was just thinking," he squeezed her hand reassuringly, turning his head to face her, "I can't go inside with you, but I just want to give you some advice: remember to be patient."

She wanted to ask what he meant but before she could, Chex shoved her through the flap of the tent. The technician stumbled in, but easily regained her balance. The smell of elderly people and lilacs filled her nose. In front of her sat a man, who looked so ancient that he could die any minute. In fact, Maka had first thought that he was dead until he let out a loud snore. She released a sigh of relief. _Maybe this is what Chex meant,_ she thought as she sat on the pillow placed in front of the chief. _Maybe he meant I had to be patient and wait for this old guy to wake up._ There were two fires burning on either side of the chief. The flickering light lit up his many wrinkles and made his silver bushy eyebrows and moustache glow in golden light. Speaking of his moustache, it was huge. It reached all the way to his stomach and his eyebrows almost covered his eyes. The elder's orange robe seemed ablaze itself, as his breathing moved the fabric, matching the flames.

She waited and waited, but he didn't look like he was waking up anytime soon. The sound of his snoring, the smell of lilacs, and the light patter of rain outside made Maka become drowsy. She had almost fallen asleep when she felt something coming toward her.

WACK!

The meister looked up and saw a wooden staff only a couple of inches away from her head stopped only by her hand. Pain sprouted in her palm and branched out all throughout her arm. Before she could process what happened, she heard a voice coming from in front of her.

"Ah, Maka," said a rough, kind voice, "as expected from a meister."

She looked down at the chief, she was unable to see his eyes, but his friendly smile told her he was awake. _Meister, _she thought, _that sounds familiar but I can't remember why. _

"You know who I am?"

He lowered his staff from her head, reminding Maka of the pain in her hand. "Of course, you were the one who accepted the mission on this island."

She stared blankly at him, so confused about everything, that a throbbing headache starting forming around her temples. She tried to read his expression, but only got his smile again. His smile reminded her of someone, someone equally as kind and warm, and at the same time mysterious; but who?

"You probably don't remember though," he said, his voice bringing her back from her thoughts, "considering you have amnesia."

"How did you know that?" She hadn't told anyone.

"I've seen it all, including the look of confusion in a person eyes when they can't remember something. And you, Maka, have that look all over your face."

She blushed, was it that obvious? Did Chex figure it out as well? That's who the chief reminded her of: Chex.

"So I came here for a mission?" she said, changing the subject.

"Yes, the mission is to hunt and destroy the evil witch Karasu. She dwells in the volcano west of the village." He sounded more remorseful than angry, Maka noted.

Maka wanted to laugh, cry, and faint all at the same time, but just sat there staring at him with large emerald eyes.

"I know this is a lot to process, so why don't you go see your partner? Chex will take you to him. He washed up on the beach the day before yesterday," he said, smile no longer on his face.

As Maka was leaving the chief barely whispered, "But be warned, a murder is coming."

The meister froze and turned back to look at him. He was no longer emitting a warm friendly aura, but instead he seemed to age a hundred years and looked grim and gaunt. She could see his eyes now, they were pale and empty; the eyes of a blind man. Too scared to ask what he meant, she left the tent. The once peaceful sound of the wind rustling through the trees now turned eerie, as the shadows of the trees seemed to grow until she was sure they were going to swallow her up.

_Is this what a mental breakdown feels like?_ She thought to herself, _I knew it was only a certain amount of time before I had one._

"You alright?"

Maka nearly jumped out of her skin, but managed to conceal it as a large shiver. She turned to find Chex standing behind her, with a water canteen in his right hand. He raised it, offering it to her. After taking a large gulp of water she managed to say, "Yes, I'm fine. Could you take me to my partner now?"

**A/N: I so sorry I've been away for so long! But you know what they say, "good things come to those who wait." Unless of course you didn't like this chapter, in which case I send you my deepest apologies. In happier news, Soul will be in the next chapter! Yay! Please leave a review! They all make me happy and motivate me to write. I will try not to take so long in posting the next chapter.**

**~S.S.**


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